force
verb/fɔːs/
/fɔːrs/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they force | /fɔːs/ /fɔːrs/ |
| he / she / it forces | /ˈfɔːsɪz/ /ˈfɔːrsɪz/ |
| past simple forced | /fɔːst/ /fɔːrst/ |
| past participle forced | /fɔːst/ /fɔːrst/ |
| -ing form forcing | /ˈfɔːsɪŋ/ /ˈfɔːrsɪŋ/ |
- [often passive] to make somebody do something that they do not want to do synonym compel
- be forced into doing something The President was forced into resigning.
- be forced to do something The President was forced to resign.
- I was forced to take a taxi because the last bus had left.
- The rebel leader was forced to flee for his life.
- force somebody/yourself to do something She forced herself to be polite to them.
- be forced into something He was forced into exile with his family.
- force somebody into something Ill health forced him into early retirement.
- be forced out of something Residents were forced out of their homes.
- force somebody out of something The high cost of insurance is forcing some out of business.
- force somebody He didn't force me—I wanted to go.
- force yourself (informal, humorous) ‘I shouldn't really have any more.’ ‘Go on—force yourself!’
- force something Public pressure eventually forced a change in the government's position.
Extra Examples- I've never liked being forced into a decision.
- In 1919 his family was forced to leave Russia because of the Revolution.
- He has been forced to admit that he lied.
- The uprising forced the government to be less authoritarian.
- Companies are forced to make decisions based on resource allocation.
- Injury forced her to retire from the game.
- He's really just an ordinary guy forced by circumstance to confront the evil that lurks within many of us.
Definitions on the go
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- to use physical strength to move somebody/something into a particular position
- force something to force a lock/window/door (= to break it open using force)
- Someone had tried to force (an) entry (= to enter the building using force).
- force something + adv./prep. She forced her way through the crowd of reporters.
- He tried to force a copy of his book into my hand.
- force something + adj. The door had been forced open.
Extra Examples- After waiting for some minutes they decided to force the door.
- We had to force the lock.
- He forced the lid of his suitcase shut.
- I managed to force him backwards.
- to make something happen, especially before other people are ready
- force something He was in a position where he had to force a decision.
- force something + adv./prep. Building a new road here will force house prices down.
- force something to make yourself smile, laugh, etc. rather than doing it naturally
- She managed to force a smile.
- force something to make fruit, plants, etc. grow or develop faster than normal by keeping them in special conditions
- forced rhubarb
- (figurative) It is unwise to force a child's talent.
make somebody do something
use physical strength
make something happen
a smile/laugh
fruit/plants
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French force (noun), forcer (verb), based on Latin fortis ‘strong’.
Idioms
See force in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee force in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishforce/thrust/ram something down somebody’s throat
- (informal) to try to force somebody to listen to and accept your opinions in a way that they find annoying
- People are sick of having advertising rammed down their throats.
force somebody’s hand
- to make somebody do something that they do not want to do or make them do it sooner than they had intended
- They decided to strike to force the management’s hand.
force the issue
- to do something to make people take a decision quicklyTopics Preferences and decisionsc2
force the pace (especially British English)
- to run very fast in a race in order to make the other people taking part run faster
- to make somebody do something faster than they want to
- The demonstrations have succeeded in forcing the pace of change.
Check pronunciation:
force